Mexico had suspended interest payments on the nation's giant foreign debt in July 1861. The main European debtors, Britain, France, and Spain, signed a convention in London for an occupation of Mexican customs houses, beginning with Vera Cruz, to force continued payments. A combined fleet sailed in December 1861. When the agreement broke down, France took the opportunity for a full scale intervention in Mexico in early 1862. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Brian R. Hamnett, A Concise History of Mexico (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 163-164.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
US/the World